Page 38 of Carved Obsession (The Sanctum Syndicate #4)

Scarlet

Our clothes are dry, the storm quieted down sometime in the middle of the night, and the rain stopped before Carter and I woke up, limbs entangled as we nested in that small bed.

I think he woke up before me. His eyes bore no trace of sleep when I opened mine and found him watching me.

I would have thought it creepy if it wasn’t downright flattering.

The usual chill in his gaze was still present, the emptiness still looked back at me, but there was a comforting familiarity in it. A kindred malice that felt like home.

Today seems different. Like last night’s storm cleansed the negative, unsettled tension between us.

Conflict remains, but it’s internal. Because the end of this mad chase and the explosive sex left me with...feelings. Thick and heavy feelings, all for the man that quietly walks beside me now.

I never thought that one night could shift the earth as much as it did, but it left space for desires, doubts, and a longing for things that could probably never be.

As we walk shoulder to shoulder through the wet, calm woods and steal hopeful glances, I can’t help but wonder if he’s going to bring up what happens next.

Is this a one-off?

Do we shake hands and part ways now that he declared he no longer wishes to kill me? Or do we...see where this road takes us?

Don’t be stupid, Scar. This road leads nowhere.

He can’t love you, and you can’t give him what all men seem to want.

I sigh, disguising it as strain from all the walking, as I turn my attention to anything but the man beside me.

“Careful,” he urges, arms wrapping around me as my feet catch on something and I lose my balance.

“Shit. Sorry.” I grip him as he steadies me when I almost trip on a fallen branch. It wasn’t small, either.

I really need to pay more attention rather than think of all the ways a relationship between us lacks all the potential.

But his careful touch is warm, possessive, and so fucking inviting. How could I not think of it?

He doesn’t release me when I look into his eyes with the same hope that burns in my chest. He pulls me closer, brushes the fallen strands of hair off my cheek, and tucks them behind my ear. Such gentleness for a man with a nickname that inspires bloodshed.

Swiping the tip of his thumb over my bottom lip, hunger fills his eyes, and I have only a second to take a breath before he crushes his mouth to mine.

In my chest, buried in that cavity that stalls my breath when he touches me, fire burns with furious fervor.

With one hand on the small of my back, he presses me against his taut body, and I all but melt into him.

Our tongues stroke each other, lips gripping every ounce of passion the other has to offer, and fuck if I don’t want him to take me right here, right now.

Bury me in the mud and offer me to the fairy gods that lie in wait.

I’ll be his sacrifice, dying thoroughly fucked and perfectly spent.

When he comes up for air, panting heavily, I swear I see humanity in his hypnotizing hazel eyes. For one brief moment, when his gaze is so focused on me, our impossible future flashes before my eyes.

“We—”

Both our heads snap to the side when his phone vibrates in his other hand. It’s a rude interruption, and I hate to say it’s a necessary one.

“One text got through. Let’s keep going,” he says as he grabs my hand and guides me on an invisible path he mapped out.

The more ground we cover, the more his phone vibrates. His head isn’t buried in it, though, and his steps aren’t mindless. He makes sure I’m able to keep up, holding branches away from striking me.

“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath.

“Everything okay?”

The seconds stretch, and I can’t tell if he’s simmering or genuinely doesn’t know if things are good.

“I think the—”

His phone rings, interrupting him yet again, and I resist the vivid urge to roll my eyes. He apologizes before he picks up, but we carry on walking, regardless.

“It’s a long story. I’ll pin my location to Brendan. Come get us...Yes, us. ”

Another pause stretches out.

“Like I said, long story . . . The very same.”

Another pause.

“Crashed.”

Annoyance strains his brows as he listens to whatever is said on the other line.

“Finnigan, you’re wasting my time. Come get us.”

He hangs up, rolling his eyes as his neck cracks in two places.

“You sound like you need a massage,” I say.

“Or a hundred,” he mutters. “Are you offering?”

I smirk, wiggling my brows when he looks at me. “If it gets you naked under me, you bet I am.”

That does it. His brows relax, his eyes soften, and a sinful smirk pulls at the corner of his lips. For a man who doesn’t feel complex emotions, he sure does master all the simple ones.

“Talk like that and we’ll never leave this forest.”

“Look at me like that and I’ll make sure we get lost,” I counter.

He scoffs playfully, shaking his head as he turns the attention back to our path.

The notifications keep coming on Carter’s phone. I can’t tell if something happened while we were off-grid or if this is just his norm.

I wonder what I’ll be met with when I charge mine. It died during the night, and I really want to believe no one noticed I didn’t return from the heist. I’m not quite convinced.

When I split up from dad last night, I told him over the phone that I was going for a bit of a drive. It’s not unusual for us to take different routes after a heist. I didn’t want to worry him, not unless whoever was clearly following us went after him instead of me.

Technically, he has no reason to check up on me and notice I haven’t returned. We may live on the same land, but we give each other plenty of space. I’m holding my fingers crossed that no one has attempted to call me since.

“Something happened?” I ask.

“Not quite.” He keeps his answer too short for this to be a back and forth.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yes.”

I want to protest his clipped answers, but I notice something.

“We made it!” I exclaim, jumping around and pointing toward the dirt road that finally appears between the old trees.

“You’ll break an ankle, love,” he says, but that vicious smile touches his eyes too, and I know he’s enjoying it.

“You can send our location now.”

“Already sent when I ended the call.” Looking down at his phone, he swipes a few times. “Updated,” he confirms.

“Perfect. Then they’ll come get us.” I turn to him, throwing my arms around his neck. “And you’ll be free of me, killer-boy,” I whisper

He wraps one hand around my middle, the other firmly gripping my neck, fingers tangled in my hair, and he holds me to him like the world might get swept from under our feet.

“Now, why would I want that?”

There it goes again—my breath stalling in my chest, tugging at my ribs to free itself.

“Kiss me . . .” I whisper.

And he does.

Soft and slow, hard and fast, hungrily and lazily, all at once. I swear the sun has changed position while he feasted on me and I reveled in him. Days could pass and I would be happy right here, lips raw and awfully parched.

We don’t come up for air when the silence breaks, a rumble vibrating in the distance. We indulge until the last moment, when the engine disturbs the forest around us and eyes threaten to fall on us.

With great reluctance, he rips his lips off of mine, releasing me without stepping away.

Even if he stops looking at me like he is now, with silent, earth-trembling intensity, I’ll still feel it deep in the fibers of my muscles, tightening around my bones, and stealing every ounce of breath away.

Tires skid on the gravel road. His gaze stays firm on mine. Car doors slam shut. Our heartbeats remain in sync. Steps crunch on the gravel. Our breaths entangle tightly.

“You scare me, Scarlet.”

My lips part and surprise rushes out of me, throwing my world into an uncontrollable rotation. His words flow through the wind, and I want to chase them back. Make sure I heard them right and that they weren’t a beautiful breeze sweeping by.

“Pierce!” a rough, deep voice booms, shaking the trees.

Carter sighs, though it looks more like he’s preparing himself. “Shall we?”

I nod, and we both turn and head straight toward the two men standing by the flat gray SUV—Maddox Severin and Vincent Sinclair.

“I thought Finnigan was coming,” Carter says as we reach them.

“He’s with Evelyn and Maya,” Maddox answers.

“Fair enough.” He turns to me. “I believe you know Scarlet Brasa-Glass.”

“Gentlemen.”

They both nod at me, and Maddox moves to open the back door, politely showing me in. For such a brutal, scarred, and slightly terrifying man, he gives an oddly calm vibe. I bet he could wring my neck in one slight move with that gigantic hand of his, though.

I look at Carter, and when he nods, I climb into the backseat, relaxing into it when he enters on the other side, the other two following at the front.

“Tell me everything that happened,” Carter almost orders.

I catch Vincent glancing toward me before he and Maddox exchange looks.

“Don’t get shy on my account, boys. I know the rules. Get killed if I spill the beans, blah, blah, blah.” I gesture with my hands, laughing. “Plus, Carter has plenty of leverage on me, since he knows all my dirty little secrets.”

I turn to him, smirking knowingly. He cocks an eyebrow and settles into his seat.

“She’s fine. Tell me what Duval did.”

Duval . . . hmm.

A few more seconds pass. Reluctance lingers in the air as Maddox drives along the forest road, toward the civilization I’m uneager to return to.

“Maddox had his fight last night. The Fightclub was packed. Our guys noticed Duval and called us,” Vincent begins.

“We couldn’t make a fuss, so we waited until the night was over, making sure he never left our sight.

But once Finn and I appeared, we didn’t leave his, either.

He waited until the fight was over, the bets were paid, and half the patrons left. ”

“And?” Carter’s getting eager to reach the climax of this little story.

“He was talking a lot without saying much, lackeys in tow for a show of power. Eventually, he said he realized that the girls have dropped off the face of the earth. Apparently, he’s been talking with other people who are familiar with them, and he deduced they’ve gone into hiding.”

Girls? Like family? Friends? Business partners?

My curiosity spikes.

“Watch this.” Vincent hands him a phone. “Brendan said you would want to see it for yourself.”

I don’t pry, but the volume is loud enough for me to hear bits and pieces.

“Don’t worry, I’ve kept your secret safe. But that’s why I’m here. Your secret will remain secure if you agree to a business deal.”

“Mr. Duval, we don’t respond well to threats, and we certainly don’t cut business deals with people who threaten us.”

“But here’s the catch, Mr. Sinclair. If you don’t agree, I will take you down, brick by brick. Legally and illegally. And when I’m done with you, I will find the rest of your Sanctum. I’ll leave your women and children alive. Destitute. Broken.”

I don’t hear the next parts over Carter’s growl and the engine’s rumbling.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Carter runs a hand through his hair and passes the phone back to Vincent.

“We told him to fuck off,” Maddox says. “The fact that he thought we would just hand him that business makes me wonder just how screwed in the head he is.”

“I guess you have to be some degree of fucked up to reach so high up on the political scale,” Carter mutters.

I can’t help but wonder if I can be of assistance.

Maybe I can prove myself to Carter’s Sanctum and gain some brownie points of trust.

“Scarlet?” Vincent says.

“Yeah?”

“You might want to prepare yourself.”

I frown, confused.

“When Carter disappeared, which is something he would never, ever do, we got worried. My wife acted on a hunch—an impressive one, it seems—and went to your stepmother’s shop.”

My heart stalls in my chest. When we moved here, my family told me to stay off of The Sanctum’s radar. And here I am, in their fucking bed.

“Your family knows.”

Shit.